Today is my last long ride (over 60 miles) of the trip. I enjoyed the Westin’s Heavenly Shower as I took my time to get ready for the day.

I departed the hotel around 10am and stopped shortly thereafter to get my weekly dose of McDonalds for breakfast. After breakfast I proceeded south down the Pacific Coast Highway to make my way out of the LA area.

As I was making my way out of Long Beach, I rode past a skateboarder who caught up with me at a stoplight at the top of a hill. I paced him down the hill; the dude got up over 25mph on his skateboard! Pretty incredible. (And people think I’m crazy!)

The first hour of riding I was focused on one thing – speed. I was riding with only one pannier (a.k.a. bike bag) as my cousin had picked up the other three the night before, so my bike was about 40 pounds lighter than usual. One of my cycling buddies on the East Coast, Peter Laudati, had messaged me about averaging 15.5mph over 40 miles the day prior, which I took as a challenge. For the first hour I averaged over 16mph, but slowed it down a bit after that as I hopped on the bike path in Huntington Beach. (Taking the pack off the mule doesn’t make him a thoroughbred, it turns out. :)

The sky was clear today, the weather in the mid to high 80s throughout. I stopped in Newport Beach for a break and to hydrate with a chocolate Coke and a black cherry vanilla malt, which I guess was my lunch for the day. (I was still full from the double sausage and egg McMuffin breakfast.)

There were rolling hills through the course of the route, particularly in Laguna Beach. San Clemente had me following a bike path through residential streets up and down little hills. Nothing too strenuous… just kept my pace and proceeded onward.

a memorial to John Cuchessi

Past San Clemente, I followed a bike path that led to (and through) a state park/beach, where I was caught by two older ladies flying on their road bikes. We started talking and they eased up their pace a bit (slowing to 18mph :) so I could keep up. I told them of my trip as we headed south to the edge of Camp Pendleton, where their ride ended for the day.

The ride through Camp Pendleton was pretty straightforward. I heard various conflicting reports about what it would take to get through the base; turns out all I had to do was show my drivers license to get past the guard station. I had asked the guard what model of helicopters were flying past us… he hadn’t a clue. [sigh]

tankity tankity

It was around 4:30pm or so when I was approaching the road out of the base, a long line of cars slowly trickling out that I zoomed past. Reunited with the PCH, I rode through Oceanside on my way to Carlsbad to my aunt’s house, my destination for the evening. It was pretty intense riding up Tamarack, remembering the streets from visiting in years past, but here I was riding them on my bike. Wild.

I arrived at my aunt’s house at 5pm on the dot (I seem to be making a habit of that) and was joyously reunited with the box I’d shipped down before I left, which contained normal clothes, my shaver and beard trimmer, and other personal effects. I spent the evening catching up with my aunt and grandma, enjoying the nighttime weather on the back patio.

One more day!

Most Exciting Moment
Crossing a bridge in Camp Pendleton, I had a car honk as it cut by me. It was an old 70s-era metal monstrosity that gave me the closest call of the trip. It actually wasn’t too bad; were it not for the honk I wouldn’t have thought much of it, but the honk freaked me out for a second there.

Besides that, the whole ride through the base with the tanks, helicopters, grunts doing basic training, etc was a lot of fun. Different scenery than the rest of the trip for sure. :)

Roadkill Report

• two birds
• a rat
• a possum
• a rabbit
• unrecognizable mush
• a cell phone keypad